About Us

Notgrass Company is a family business dedicated to encouraging your family in living a learning lifestyle. We are in our sixteenth year of homeschooling and our ninth year of full-time work in this business.

This website features detailed information about our products, including sample pages. You may also call us toll-free at 1-800-211-8793. We will be glad to talk with you about your homeschooling goals and explain how our products can help you. If we cannot answer when you call, please leave a message with your phone number and a good time to call you back.

We appreciate your interest in our resources and your support of our business. We look forward to serving you.

Ray, Charlene, John, Bethany, Mary Evelyn, and Daniel Notgrass

Who We Are
by Charlene Notgrass

In the fall of 1990, our family began to homeschool. At least that's what we thought we were doing. Years later we discovered that what we were really doing was learning how to live. My husband Ray and I had been having serious reservations about public schools. In August we finally made the decision to give homeschooling a try. Our children were going into the first, fourth, and sixth grades. Ray was a minister, so I often had to explain what we were doing. I remember telling people that we would try it for a year and that I didn't think I would ruin them in a year.

It was August, and I had three children to teach. I had a friend who had homeschooled her son in the summer and sent him to public school during the school year (Can you imagine doing that?). She loaned me textbooks for grades 1-6. I hung a bulletin board, made a schedule, and began. We went from 8:00 to 2:30 with a recess period and a lunch break, except on Thursday when we went to a co-op in the afternoon. We had a nice schedule that I could tell anybody about without being afraid, that I could say with the sin of pride - and that was exasperating!

We made some changes the next year, but those two years wore me out. Ray said there had to be an easier way to educate our children than what we were doing. With misgivings, I went to work part-time so we could put them in a Christian school in the fall. Our youngest started having terrible stomachaches. During the next year, we carpooled across town to the school, John played soccer and basketball, Bethany had a paper route, and all three took piano lessons. I worked part-time, Ray got a part-time job, too, and all the children studied to receive good grades.

In the spring, a church in Cookeville, Tennessee recruited Ray to serve as its minister. We were told that Cookeville didn't need Christian schools, because the public schools were great and had Christian teachers. I remember saying (but not believing), "Do you suppose we could send them to school and I could stay home?" I knew better, but I was worn out after the last three years, and I wanted to think it would work. So, we sent our children to public school. I was able to rest and to get us settled into our new home, but almost immediately, John and Mary Evelyn, our oldest and youngest children, began asking to homeschool again. Bethany, who was twelve and in seventh grade, said we would ruin her life if we made her homeschool.

Our new church was much larger than our previous congregations. We were very involved in church programs, including the large, active youth group. John was in high school, but he didn't have as much homework as the two girls, who came home each day, had a snack, did homework, ate dinner, did homework, and went to bed. We decided that they would have to finish what they started and complete the year in public school.

In the spring I began to pray that God would make us all want the same thing. One Saturday in July, Bethany came to us saying that she wanted to homeschool. We were together! Our children were 10, 13, and 15, and this time things would be different. We would relax. We would put first things first. We adopted a family philosophy:

We believe that we should spend our lives praying for and pursuing our goal - that we, our children and their spouses, our grandchildren and their spouses, and every succeeding generation live as Christians on earth and live forever in Heaven with our God and with each other. We want to spend our lives working diligently for the realization of this goal with all the strength He gives us.

We read books aloud and by ourselves. We traveled on a tight budget. The children wrote and acted in their own plays. We used a few textbooks. We studied topics together. We went to plays inexpensively during school-day matinees. The children did volunteer work, studied the Bible diligently, and taught younger children in Bible classes. Ray taught them history. I took art lessons with them. We later began a family business. Through it all, we became best friends.

In time each of the children graduated, and then we adopted a sibling group of two more girls, Liz and Hannah, and another boy, Daniel. We are continuing our journey from burden to lifestyle.

(You can find out more about our homeschooling journey with Charlene's audio CD Homeschooling: From Burden to Lifestyle.)

What Parents Are Saying

"We are thrilled to have found your company! Your products are of the finest quality and the service is great!" -- New York

"We love your products. The feedback and replies to my questions and concerns were marvelous. The fast shipping on the products I got was rare in this day and age." -- Virginia

"We've enjoyed the 'ease of use' of your products. They cover at a depth we desire, yet are not too complicated to use. The preparation time for me is reduced due to your the formats you use. Plus I'm able to involve all four kids (ages 2-8) into most of the material at some level." -- Connecticut

"As a mom trying to include God's Word in our daily lives, I am pleased with how you have done this successfully in different curriculums we have used. I am also pleased with your prices. We always look forward to see new and exciting stuff come from your family." -- Tennessee

"Thanks for a good job. I've been telling my homeschooling friends about you." -- Arizona

"I enjoy the fact that they feel more personal and obviously more geared toward the homeschool environment. The products help you to really delve into a subject. I always like to buy from a homeschooling family who understands the needs and desires of homeschoolers." -- Mississippi

"Your newsletters and your educational products have blessed me and my children greatly. Thank you for your dedication and for allowing God to minister through your materials. " -- South Carolina

"You have made it much easier to incorporate this type of [lifestyle] learning into our homeschooling. Please keep sharing with the homeschool community your wonderful wisdom and knowledge." -- Florida

"I love your products and your service. I hope to see you come out with more curriculum options in the future." -- California

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